Redemption and Revelations
by Wellsy71
Summary: A rewrite of the story formerly known as "The Fallen Knight and the Ice Queen." A fallen knight and a failed instructor both seek redemption, but with murder and revelations in relation to past and present relationships, will they receive it? Set three months after the events of the game. Rated M for violence, possible non-graphic suggestive situations and language.


A/N: Well now, it's certainly has been an extremely long time since I've posted something for this fandom, but I'm back for the time being. Well I've read through the trilogy that I wrote and to be honest it wasn't that good and I wasn't happy about how it turned out. So with that in mind, I've decided to pull those particular stories down and will be rewriting them again and changing the title and a lot of the story. So please follow along with the updates and leave reviews, I really want to get this right this time around. Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII is the property of Square, I do not make any profit from this.

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**Chapter I: A Fallen Knight**

A lone figure sat at the end of the dock, the rays from the sun burned into the back of his neck. Well, of course for Seifer Almasy it didn't bother him too much, it was nothing compared to the wounds that was inflicted on him. Hell, even a bite from a fucking T-Rexuar would be nothing more but a mere paper cut compared to a slice from a gunblade or the powerful magic from a sorceress. But still he lived, and if that didn't say that he was either a lucky son of a bitch or close to immortality, then obviously nothing else would. However, there were scars to tell that story to people, and most of all to himself. Not even Seifer knew how he had survived being the sorceress' little puppet, who had controlled everything. Ultimecia clawed herself so deep into him, twisting him from the inside, she had manipulated how he felt, thought and acted to the point where Seifer was nothing more than tool.

'A tool, that's all I ever fucking was,' he thought bitterly as he gazed upon the clear water of the ocean.

Of course, Seifer couldn't remember anything after Ultimecia's control over him was released. It has been only three months since he woke up in the ruins of the Crystal Pillar, with no memory of the events that had occurred. Three months, the blond ex-knight couldn't believe that it had been that long since he had nearly destroyed the world, and his recollection was vague. It was only within the past week and a bit that he would wake in a cold sweat, nightmares of sorceresses and murder plagued his unconsciousness to the point of insanity. Eventually Seifer figured it was just the events of when he was being mind-fucked by Ultimecia surfacing to his conscious thoughts. At that current moment, his thoughts went straight to his most recent dream.

Seifer scowled deeply and gripped his fishing rod tighter in his hand. He remembered Adel, still in her tomb and comatose and Rinoa…Rinoa in his grasp and struggling to break free, Ultimecia's voice ringing through his head to the point of insanity. From within he was trying to fight against the wishes of the sorceress, but failed as Ultimecia controlled his body to toss Rinoa to the dormant Adel. On the outside Seifer was emotionless, but on the inside he was screaming in agony as he saw those claw-like fingers engulf the young woman's small frame and heard her scream as Adel fused their two bodies. He never wanted to see that image again, he didn't know how much of his broken and shattered pride could take. Seifer knew that things were never going the same.

Well at least would take some time to heal, back in Balamb fishing with his posse. The three of them had taken refuge in the small town, after Seifer was acquitted for his actions during what was known as the Second Sorceress War. The jury decided that the actions of Seifer, and Edea for that matter, were due to the mind control of the sorceress after Dr. Odine presented evidence to state that fact. The trial was held in Esthar, on mutual territory, before an international council.

'Hmph, figured that they would had blown holes into me, then to let me go…' Seifer thought and his scowl deepened even further. 'The hell…'

Seifer was snapped out of his thoughts by a loud voice, but he wasn't surprised by who the source of it was. His head turned as he took in the sight…

"HEY! I finally caught somethin', ya know?!" Raijin was jumping up and down with a fish in his hands. Seifer cursed under his breath and was quickly up on his feet.

'Fuckin' hell! I've had enough of this…' Seifer thought and threw his fishing rod on the ground in frustration, his coat flipped up behind him. He could remember the countless times that the three of them would skip class just to go fishing in the town. Neither of them had managed to catch anything until that current time.

"See this Fu! This proves that fishin' in Balamb isn't hopeless after all!" Raijin continued to rant, waving that damned fish in the smaller one-eyed woman's face.

Their blond haired leader had enough by that point, more than his wounded pride and ego could take. With a murderous glare, Seifer began to walk over to the duo, but then stopped momentarily when he caught the unimpressed look of Fujin. Without a second thought, the silver-haired woman planted a firm boot square into the large, muscular man's back, sending Raijin into the water with the fish still firmly grasped in his large hand. The ex-knight laughed loudly, which had brought a smile to the lips of his female friend. When was the last time he actually laughed like that? Seifer knew for damned sure that it was before the war…

_Seifer was agitated…no correction, he was getting pissed off. The young spiky blond in front of him was bouncing on the balls of his feet shadow-boxing, his heels tapping the metal floor. For Hyne's sake, it was a moving vehicle! He couldn't believe the shorter man's stupidity, Seifer figured if the guy had half a brain that the moron would be sitting down like the rest of them. To be honest, the squad leader wanted to tell the driver to slam on the brakes so that Zell would fly into the wall and learn his lesson. No, instead he decided to tell him off, just to keep the peace with the instructor sitting next to him. _

"_Stop that…it's annoying…" Seifer groaned. Zell stopped bouncing and raised an eyebrow at the taller man, who leaned forward in his seat and finished his sentence, "…Chicken-wuss."_

_Zell went red with rage, shaking his fists at him in a threatening manner. Seifer, however, never felt intimidated and laughed hard at his team member. Well at least he had managed to stop the annoying ring in his head. _

"_WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!" Zell demanded in a piercing tone, almost to the point of yelling. _

_Seifer laughed even louder, to the point where he could barely hear the young man. He began to sense that the female instructor next to him was getting agitated. Seifer knew that she would, the disciplinary committee leader knew the tall blonde woman too well. But any authoritative comment from her was the last thing on his mind at that moment. _

"_Knock it off," Instructor Trepe scolded as she quickly stood on her feet. _

_Quistis glared at the two men for a moment, especially at Seifer. But there was something different about the one that she gave to Zell to the one that she was giving to Seifer. It was almost like she was pleading to him silently, almost to the point of desperation. He didn't know what was going on, but it was something that he had never seen her do. The young woman sighed and sat back down at the same time Seifer had ceased his laughter. _

Quistis Trepe, his former instructor and, according to Seifer, had a stick up her fucking ass always about something. It had always irritated him, since her frustrations were always aimed towards him, it was always like that and anyone would have to be bloody blind not to see it. Even if there were others involved in a fight or something like that, he would always be the one that got punished or scolded, especially if Squall Leonhart was involved. That tight-assed bitch always favoured Squall, even if he was just as guilty to begin with. But no, Quistis always saw perfection in the brunette, not imperfect just like everyone else. It always had pissed Seifer off.

"_Oh, and Seifer!" Quistis called to Seifer._

_Seifer was sitting down the back, not paying attention to the instructor of course. But when she mentioned his name, he couldn't help but to tune in. He leaned forward and was ready to hear what she had to say next._

_"Do NOT injure your partner while training. Be careful from now on." _

_It wasn't fair, it never was and it was obvious that the fucking bitch didn't care. Her pretty boy injured Seifer as well and she knew it, so why single out one and not the other? Seifer was pissed and he gave his rival, who sat at the desk next to him, a glare and slammed his fist down hard on the desk, the students in front of him jumped in their seats. A trip to the Training Centre was on the cards before the exam, he didn't really want to smash Garden property, so a few Grats sounded like the better option. _

Even now, there was something about the woman that Seifer couldn't understand. For one thing, Quistis Trepe was hard to figure out, complex and had her walls built so well that not even the cruelest insults should penetrate them. He used to throw insults and witty remarks at her and she would level him every time, always able to outsmart him. But the funny thing was that he enjoyed it, almost like he was drawn to her.

'No fucking way, that was a once off with absolutely no meaning behind it,' he thought.

Strangely enough in the midst of his nightmares, Seifer sometimes had some pleasant dreams, most of them involving the woman in question. Well what young, hormonal man wouldn't pay particular attention to a blonde woman in who was in a position of power and authority, who wears leather and wields a whip. The tall blond could recall the amount of times, while sitting in her class, fantasising about having her on that large desk and screwing her senseless. Long, golden locks twisted around his fingers as she clawed at his back, begging for more and more until she was into complete oblivion. Hell, occasionally Seifer would jerk one off in the shower after class so that anyone that walked past his dorm couldn't hear his groans of euphoria.

'Dammit, why do my thoughts keep going back to those dreams…why am I even dreaming about her now?' Seifer thought as he continued to be amused by the antics of his posse. 'Guess I shouldn't worry about it, just as long as I got freedom and those two the last thing that should be on my mind are the "heroes"…'

A loud, yet soft hum filled his ears. It was soothing to say the least, but oddly familiar from somewhere. Then all the sudden, a grin crept on his face as a memory came back to him, of a time when Seifer had no choice but to fight against his former home…he looked up into the sky above him as a massive shadow crept over, and then he saw it…

Balamb Garden…the place where it all began, once a safe haven and now floats in the sky and. Did he miss it? Of course he did, but did he miss the people there? Defiantly not, and he wouldn't want to be there with the "heroes" in their crowning glory. That alone would be like rubbing salt into a wound, and Seifer sure as hell didn't want to have that happen to him, especially from the likes of Zell Dincht. But still, there was a sense of relief that filled Seifer, knowing that his former home managed to survive.

'So they made it,' he thought with a smile. 'They actually survived.'

"SEIFER," Fujin's voice entered his consciousness.

He looked at the woman, snapping out of his daze.

"What's going on now?" Seifer replied, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, what are we gonna do now?" Raijin asked him. "I mean, it's not like we can go back to that place, ya know?"

The other man sighed and turned from them, hands on his hips as he watched Balamb Garden sail further out to sea. Seifer never placed much thought into what he was going to do, since being at Garden was all he knew and after what had transpired they probably wouldn't let him back in. Well, that would be the most likely scenario if Squall was the one actually in charge.

"Who knows, guess I never placed much thought into it…" He bowed his head. "And to be honest, I couldn't give a shit. Guess we'll wait and see what good old lady luck sends our way…"

"Seifer…" A soft voice from out of nowhere spoke his name. "It's good to see you are well."

That voice…it sent an unpleasant chill up Seifer's spine. It was a very familiar one, but no longer held that distortion that used to scare the living hell out him. But even now, hearing the voice of his old Matron was enough to chill him to the bone. Seifer looked back over his shoulder, and that was when he saw her. She was just as he had remembered her from when he was a child. Edea was wearing a long black dress, which accentuated her thin frame. Her black hair was loose and cascaded down her back like a black waterfall. She was a fragile beauty in Seifer's opinion, one that he could recall from his childhood that used to watch the children from the kitchen window while they played out the back.

"Matron…what are you doing here?" Seifer managed to ask, his voice slightly unsteady.

Edea looked at the man who stood before her, looking at him thoroughly and what she saw pained her on the inside. She noticed that there was something different about the way that the ex-knight stood. It was a very different sight from what the ex-sorceress could remember from the war, like Seifer was defeated. His shoulders no longer were square, no longer stood tall like the proud knight that Edea once knew. Everyone else couldn't see it, since it was obvious to her that Seifer would try to hide it, but her motherly instincts see through that façade. Deep down, Ultimecia had broken him and his pride into many little pieces, Edea could sense that.

The woman walked towards him, both Fujin and Raijin stepped to the side to allow her through. Seifer never once removed his gaze from her, paying close attention to each step that she took, noticing that it still had that small sway in the hips. Edea stopped in front of him, meeting the deep emerald gaze being emitted towards her.

"I'm here to reunite this family of mine," she said to him, almost quietly. "Maybe it's about time that you came home."

Seifer would have fallen back on his ass if he knew the ocean wasn't directly behind him. Instead, he raised an eyebrow at the mother-figure, who stared up at him with determination. Of course, the blond man couldn't help but to scoff a little. What sane person would want the former sorceress' lapdog back in Garden? That alone was laughable, well to Seifer anyway.

"I was never part of that family, Matron. That's bullshit and you know it," he replied, voice hardened and bitter. "Besides, I'm sure the likes of Puberty Boy, Chicken-Wuss and the ice queen wouldn't let me back in, even if I wanted to go back…"

"Don't you dare start using that language with me," Edea scolded lightly, reaching out to grip his arm quickly. "Now, Cid had requested me to come here to talk to you. He's got a proposition that he wishes to discuss with you in person."

Seifer snapped his eyes shut and turned his head away, he didn't want to hear it. He knew that he would never be part of that so-called 'family', he would never fit in.

"Matron…I can't, you know that I won't…"

"Seifer, please look at me."

Reluctantly, his face was in her direction once again, with his eyes open. However, this time around that look of desperation was gone, replaced by something that began to shatter his hardened heart. Edea's honey-coloured eyes were pleading with him, begging almost. Seifer never meant to be an asshole at that point, why couldn't she just leave him alone like all the others? He couldn't see why it was important to her to have him back, or what Cid wanted with him for that matter. Suddenly, the ex-knight slowly began to feel his guard starting to drop. Now he was completely at her mercy, to her soft tender words that threatened to pierce him.

"Cid and I want you back, we need you back with us," Edea continued. "The others will understand over time, we'll make sure of that. Garden will be coming back around to dock at the base and I could use an escort. So please, Seifer…just come home."

At that moment, Seifer was sure that he had forgotten how to breathe. Those words, pleading him to come home had pierced through his exterior and into the inside of his very core. That had done it for him, dragged into the whirlpool, that in desperation, he wanted to swim out of. But fate had other plans for the fallen knight, and he just had to accept it. The whirlpool had sucked him in.

Sighing, Seifer bowed his head. He guessed that he could swallow his already shattered pride just for this once and go with his childhood mother-figure. Besides, what sort of life would he end up living if he didn't go back? Would he have a career, or be fishing and boozing until he was fucking blind? Most likely the latter, but even Seifer knew inside that wasn't a way to live, but what else was he really capable in doing? Being a soldier was the only life that he knew, trained from a young age to fight in war and take down multitudes of enemies without mercy.

That really was the only choice left for him…

"I'll do it," he finally said, almost in a whisper.

Edea smiled at him sweetly and Seifer looked back up at her. A pale, slender hand cupped his cheek and stroked it with the pad of her thumb. It was a soft touch that Seifer hadn't felt for quite a long time by anyone, and honestly he found it comforting. She removed her hand and looked over her shoulder and smiled, to the two friends that were standing there and saw what had just transpired.

"Your friends are welcome back too," Edea told Seifer. "The three of you will be staying in the single SeeD dorms until your meeting with Cid in the morning. It's best that you three stay out of sight while the celebration party is on."

Seifer crossed his arms and gave an unimpressed look. Of course he didn't want to be seen at some party to congratulate the people who handed his ass to him on multiple occasions. There was no bloody way that the ex-knight was going to stand there while the likes of Squall Leonhart and that Chicken-Wuss would be there, sending him smug looks and remind him of his failure. No, screw that for a joke. Seifer would rather stab himself with Hyperion instead then to see that.

He smirked a little and looked at his posse. Seifer probably figured that they were eager to know what was going on, well they were about to find out. It was time for the three of them to go home.

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A/N: Hopefully I will have the next chapter up sometime during the week, but if not I'll have it up in the near future.


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